Sunday, November 29, 2009

Now that it has come into the open, more people will know its nature and "hidden agenda". This has been going on for years, but generally the public has been kept from knowing what it actually does. For those who surf the net and active in reading the comments in local blogs, will roughly know the real nature of this BTN. I for one, came to know about its nature through reading the comments in the local blogs.

If you missed out, then it's time you know the facts. You can read the full report at MalaysianInsider after reading this. Below is the "copy and paste" of some relevent points:

[Datuk Seri Najib Razak, his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and a number of ministers were thoroughly briefed several weeks ago on the divisive nature of the controversial Biro Tata Negara (BTN) courses compulsory for civil servants and university undergraduates.

At the end of the briefing, the PM spoke of the fear and siege mentality the BTN courses had created, particularly among Malay participants.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

There will be a Barbaric and Cruel mass murder of animals of all sorts today November 24 and tomorrow November 25. If you feel for these pitiful and defenceless animals, please read through and go to the site and send your messages to the Nepalese Authorities to stop this senseless, cruel and barbaric killings.

Please forward their message to as many of your contacts as possible. This time we may not be doing much, but with the international internet community actions the time will come that they stop these barbaric, senseless and cruel killings. We hope the next time around, all our actions will save millions of innocent and defenceless animals. Don't underestimate your individual actions; all added up will be millions!

I "copy and paste" this article from Humane Society International for your information and follow-up.

[Animal sacrifice is foreign to many in today’s day and age, but it still happens. One of the worst scenes of such slaughter in the world is the Gadhimai Jatra festival, held in the Bara district in the south of Nepal. Every five years, hundreds of thousands of animals are massacred in the name of a Hindu deity. During the last event, more than 200,000 animals were killed in just two days. This year, organizers are calling for nearly a half million animals to be slaughtered November 24 and 25.

The details of these so-called “festivities” are particularly horrific. There is no slaughterhouse or system in place for humane killing; instead, the animals are kept trapped in enclosures. The “panchhbali,” or five offerings, involves slicing the throats of five kinds of animals (buffalo, goats, pigs, roosters and rats) with a knife. This is not a quick death, but slow and agonizing for the victims. Buffalo, due to their size, suffer the most. Men swinging swords, often drunk, enter the corral and begin to hack away at the huge beasts. They target the hind legs first to bring the animals down and then proceed with a slow chopping at the neck, often requiring tens of cuts to actually kill the animal. The cruelty is unspeakable and the pain these creatures endure is unfathomable.

Take ActionStop the massacre! Write to Nepalese leaders now to express your horror over the planned bloodshed.

In fact, more Indians attend this festival than do Nepalese; Bara is just over the border from India, where sacrificial slaughter has been banned in some states. Additionally, the only real beneficiaries of the event are the local business people, who pressure the villagers to offer excessive numbers of farm animals for the sacrifice. Reportedly, the businessmen can earn as much as $2 million from the sale of the carcasses and hides, while the community gains nothing. Superstition and pressure from organizers impede local action, though many people view the carnage as barbaric.

This horrendous cruelty somehow existed without much publicity until this year. Animal advocates and religious leaders both within Nepal and around the world have displayed outrage and disgust and are working together to pressure on the Nepalese government to put a stop to the mass animal sacrifice. HSI is joining in this effort by working with two of our local partners in Nepal, Kathmandu Animal Treatment Center and Animal Nepal and asking our supporters to write to Nepalese leaders to voice their concern.

Animal Nepal is organizing events in the capital ahead of the event and filing a case at the Supreme Court, as well as planning a symbolic ritual blessing in the hope that compassion will reign. HSI intends to keep the pressure on Nepalese leaders and help spread awareness of the horror of the event. Even “tradition” is no excuse for cruelty in a civilized society. As Mahatma Gandhi is credited with saying, “The greatness of a society and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.”]

KATHMANDU: Five years ago, when he enjoyed unbridled power and was planning to stage an army-backed coup to become the head of the government,

Nepal’s king Gyanendra attended the festival of Hindu goddess Gadhimai in southern Nepal, throwing his weight, as the world’s Hindu emperor, behind an orgy of animal and bird sacrifices.

Today, with his crown abolished and Nepal declared a secular state, the former king’s kin is spearheading a passionate campaign to prevent animal sacrifices in the Terai temple.

“I stopped animal sacrifices at my parents’ house when I was eight,” says Pramada Shah nee Rana, whose grandfather Nir Shumsher Rana was a field marshall of the Nepal Army. “When I was married to Ashish Shah, King Gyanendra’s nephew, I realised animal sacrifices were deeply rooted in the family tradition. However, I have put an end to that too.”

Now her animal rights organisation Animal Welfare Network Nepal has grouped with animal activists in Nepal, India, France and the UK to begin a public campaign against the Gadhimai Temple fair starting from Nov 24, when the temple authorities say at least 500,000 birds and beasts will be slaughtered. The fair is held every five years when Hindu devotees from Jndia and Nepal gather to slaughter birds and animals for two days.

“The government must take immediate action to address the grave health risks of the mass sacrifice including bird and swine flu, TB and food poisoning,” Shah said. “If such mass sacrifices are still allowed in Nepal in the 21st century, it will send out the message to the world that we are still a barbaric nation.”

In 2002, a year after he ascended the throne following the assassination of his elder brother King Birendra, King Gyanendra had visited India where animal rights activists protested against his offering panchabali – five sacrifices – at the Kamakshya temple in Assam

Shah, who was educated in Delhi’s Army Public School and studied in Mumbai’s Sophiya College for two years, says her inspiration is former Indian minister and animal rights campaigner Maneka Gandhi.

Gandhi has already written to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, urging him to prevent the wanton killings. “Many people in Nepal and the subcontinent are concerned about this sacrifice,” she wrote. “Your government has taken so many humane steps – banning the export of monkeys, for instance. Since you have introduced the Meat Act, which makes the humane killing of animals mandatory, these acts during the Gadhimai Festival would be illegal.”

Shah is hoping that Gandhi will come to Nepal since a visit by her would give greater momentum to the campaign. “We are not against the Hindu religion,” she said. “We are against its perversions. No religion says that animals have to be sacrificed to appease god.”

At home, the campaign against the mass animal killings has been boosted by Nepal’s Buddha Boy Ram Bahadur Bomjan taking up cudgels on its behalf. Bomjan, who stunned the world five years ago when he was reported to be meditating without taking food or water, is asking the temple management as well as pilgrims and the district administration not to spill innocent blood in the birthplace of the Buddha, the apostle of peace.

“The campaign is producing results,” said D B Bomjan, a prominent member of the Buddhist Tamang community to which the Buddha Boy belongs. “Three villagers have already handed over three buffalos to us, which were intended for sacrifice at the fair, saying they have had a change of heart.”

Sunday, November 22, 2009

"Weirdo" means "a psychopath, esp. a dangerous or vicious one; psycho: They caught the weirdo who attacked the children." No joke, this is the definition for "weirdo"!

Now this weirdo said, according to news report, "that speaking English in the workplace is 'weird' and harmful to the nation's culture and identity."

This person is Mohd Puad Zarkashi, deputy education minister. I don't bother to put up his photo here. That will scare all the parents away from my blog! You can see what a weirdo looks like by clicking HERE.

What has this nation become? With a weirdo holding such a highly important position? This nation once could boast about its citizens being able to speak and write excellent English. Now many little minds (if they have one) are trying to throw away such an invaluable asset.

Monday, November 16, 2009

"The High Court here has ordered the Election Commission to call a by-election for the Kota Siputeh state seat in Kedah.

High Court judge Datuk Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin said the Election Commision (EC) had encroached over the power of the Speaker when it decided to keep Abu Hasan in the state seat despite being told there is a vacancy."

We shall wait for the latest updates in the hours to come. In the meantime, be pleased with the High Court judgement.

Press Statement From Cheong Yin Fan， Press Secretary To The Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng In George Town On 8.11.2009.____________________________________________________________________

The only approvals granted for reclamation or hill development projects were by the previous BN state government.

____________________________________________________________________

The Penang Chief Minister’s Office regrets certain misleading reports of government approvals granted on large tracts of land reclamation and hill development projects by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. Such false press reports by pro-BN and UMNO-controlled media is calculated to cause maximum damage and undermine public confidence, the integrity and credibility of the Pakatan Rakyat administration.

The Penang state government appreciates the valid concerns expressed by Penangnites who are confused by these false allegations from BN. Amongst the issues raised are existing hill slope projects approved by the previous BN state government which the present PR state government can not simply cancel for fear of incurring hundreds of millions of ringgit in compensation that Penangnites can not afford.

There have been no approvals granted on any major land reclamation or hill development projects by either the state government or Lim Guan Eng. The only approvals granted for reclamation or hill development projects were by the previous BN state government. It is ironical that amongst those making these allegations are BN leaders that had themselves approved these projects in the past without public consultation. It is wrong to pin the blame on the PR state government.

There have been proposals for development from various quarters. However proposals can not be equated with approvals. Any approvals made must fulfill the aspirations of a people-centric government transforming Penang into an international city with world-class facilities and support services and a thriving magnet for the best human talent.

Before any approvals are signed, the state government will observe the principles of CAT (Competency, Accountability and Transparency) governance and obtain public consultation. BN had approved numerous major hillslope projects and PR not even one. BN had not consulted the public whilst PR had regularly consulted the public. There is no corruption in PR state government whilst there are hidden monetary costs in the BN state government. This is the difference between a people-centric government of PR and the crony government of BN.

As Lim Guan Eng is away overseas in Bahrain and Iran on an investment mission to seek new markets for our investments and tourism, he will address these queries upon his return or at the coming Penang state Assembly meeting on 30.11.2009.

I wish to highlight today's "thought of the day" appearing on the top right margin of this blog, which I quote:

"The test of a democracy is not the magnificence of buildings or the speed of automobiles or the efficiency of air transportation, but rather the care given to the welfare of all the people. -Helen Adams Keller, lecturer and author (1880-1968)"

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The MalaysianInsider reports on the latest comment by Nazri trying his "best" not to be an idiot:

[Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz sparked an uproar in Parliament on Monday when he said “judiciary fixer” Lingam had been let off the hook “because he had broken no law”.

Nazri also suggested that Lingam breached no laws as he might “have just acted to fix the appointment of judges as if he was brokering the appointment of senior judges to impress people”.]

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Her local radio station gave her the job after she rang and offered advice to a woman caller who had been dumped. Elaina’s tip — go bowling with pals and drink a mug of milk — was so good she got a weekly slot and now advises thousands of adult listeners.

The littler adviser tackles problems ranging from how to dump boyfriends and how to cope with relationship breakdown to dealing with smelly brothers.

When one listener wrote to Elaina asking how to get a man, she replied: “Shake your booty on the dance floor and listen to High School Musical”. Another caller asked how to get her man back, Elaina told her: “He’s not worth the heartache. Life’s too short to be upset with a boy.”

Free advertisement for the famous Lingham's Chilly Sauce!Taste like me, looks like me, not me!! Goes well with Maggie Mee, or One Ton Mee!!Don't ask me. Click HERE to see.Or is it "Looks like me, it's me!" Click HERE to see.Let's go fly kites!!Or should we go "spin a top in different ways"?

Monday, November 9, 2009

William Joseph Mosconi, nicknamed “Mr. Pocket Billiards” was a American professional pocket billiards (pool) player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Willie’s father owned a pool hall where he wasn’t allowed to play, but Willie improvised by practicing with small potatoes from his mother’s kitchen and an old broomstick. His father soon realized that his son was a child prodigy began advertising challenge matches, and though Willie had to stand on a box in order to reach the table, he beat experienced players many years his senior.

In 1919, an exhibition match was arranged between six-year old Willie and the reigning World Champion, Ralph Greenleaf. The hall was packed, and though Greenleaf won that match, Willie played very well launching his career in professional billiards. In 1924, at the tender age of eleven, Willie was the juvenile straight pool champion and was regularly holding trick shot exhibitions.

Between the years of 1941 and 1957, he won the BCA World Championship of pool an unmatched fifteen times. Mosconi pioneered and employed numerous trick shots, set many records, and helped to popularize the game of billiards. He still holds the officially recognized straight pool high run record of 526 consecutive balls.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

24 year-old Michael Kearney became known as the world’s youngest college graduate at the age of 10. In 2008, Kearney earned $1,000,000 on the television game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Kearny was born in 1984 and is was known for setting several world records and teaching college at the age of 17.

He spoke his first words at four months. At the age of six months, he said to his pediatrician “I have a left ear infection” and learned to read at the age of ten months. When Michael was four, he was given diagnostic tests for the Johns Hopkins precocious math program and achieved a perfect score. He finished high school at age 6, enrolled at Santa Rosa Junior College graduating at 10 with an Associate of Science in Geology. He is listed in the Guinness Book as the world’s youngest university graduate at the age of 10, receiving a bachelor’s degree in anthropology.

For a while, he also held the record for the world’s youngest postgraduate.But in 2006, he became worldwide famous after reaching the finals on the Mark Burnett/AOL quiz/puzzle game Gold Rush, and became the first $1 million winner in the online reality game.

The case study below has been circulating in the internet and in blogs for the last few years. If you haven't come across it, now is your chance to read it here. I call it "The Greater Fool Syndrome".

[A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other disused.Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track.

The train is coming, and you are just beside the track interchange.You can make the train change its course to the disused track and save most of the kids.However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed.Or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make........ ........ ]

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[Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child.You might think the same way, I guess.Exactly, to save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decisionmost people would make, morally and emotionally.But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in factmade the right decision to play at a safe place?

Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was.

This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday.In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society,the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority,no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are.

The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined.And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him.

The great critic Leo Velski Julian who told the story said he would not try to change the course of the train because he believed that the kids playing on the operational track should have known very well that track was still in use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens..If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe.If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake!And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.

While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made,we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right one.

'Remember that what's right isn't always popular... and what's popular isn't always right.'

Everybody makes mistakes; that's why they put erasers on pencils.]

This is the tragedy of life. More often than not, the innocents and the weak are bullied by the powerful.

Friday, November 6, 2009

"There are many unknowns about Nidal Malik Hasan, the man authorities say is responsible for the worst mass killing on a U.S. military base. Most of all, his motive. But details of his life and mindset, emerging from official sources and personal acquaintances, are troubling."

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Saul Aaron Kripke: Invited to apply for a teaching post at Harvard while still in high school.

A rabbi’s son, Saul Aaron Kripke was born in New York and grew up in Omaha in 1940. By all accounts he was a true prodigy.

In the fourth grade he discovered algebra, and by the end of grammar school he had mastered geometry and calculus and taken up philosophy. While still a teenager he wrote a series of papers that eventually transformed the study of modal logic. One of them earned a letter from the math department at Harvard, which hoped he would apply for a job until he wrote back and declined, explaining, “My mother said that I should finish high school and go to college first”. After finishing high school, the college he eventually chose was Harvard.

Kripke was awarded the Schock Prize, philosophy’s equivalent of the Nobel. Nowadays, he is thought to be the world’s greatest living philosopher.

In a recent poll conducted by philosophers Kripke was among the top ten most important philosophers of the past 200 years.

[Aelita Andre: The 2-year-old artist who showed her paintings in a famous Gallery.

The abstract paintings of emerging artist Aelita Andre have people in Australia’s art world talking. Aelita is two (the works were painted when she was even younger).

Aelita got an opportunity to show her paintings when Mark Jamieson, the director of Brunswick Street Gallery in Melbourne’s Fitzroy, was asked by a photographer whose work he represented to consider the work of another artist. Jamieson liked what he saw and agreed to include it in a group show.

Jamieson then started to promote the show, printing glossy invitations and placing ads in the magazines Art Almanac and Art Collector, featuring the abstract work. Only then did he discover a crucial fact about the new artist: Aelita Andre is Kalashnikova’s daughter, and was just 22 months old. Jamieson was shocked and embarrassed but decided to proceed with the exhibition anyway.]

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Clepotra was born October 6, 2002 in Chisinau, Moldova and is the daughter of Moldovan-Romanian singer, Pavel Stratan. She is the youngest person ever to score commercial success as a singer, with her 2006 album La vârsta de trei ani (”At the age of 3″). She holds the record for being the youngest artist that performed live for two hours in front of a large audience, the highest paid young artist, the youngest artist to receive an MTV award and the youngest artist to score a #1 hit in a country (”Ghita” in Romanian Singles Chart).

Akrit Jaswal is a young Indian who has been called “the world’s smartest boy” and it’s easy to see why. His IQ is 146 and is considered the smartest person his age in India—a country of more than a billion people.

Akrit came to public attention when in 2000 he performed his first medical procedure at his family home. He was seven. His patient — a local girl who could not afford a doctor — was eight. Her hand had been burnt in a fire, causing her fingers to close into a tight fist that wouldn’t open. Akrit had no formal medical training and no experience of surgery, yet he managed to free her fingers and she was able to use her hand again.

He focused his phenomenal intelligence on medicine and at the age of twelve he claimed to be on the verge of discovering a cure for cancer. He is now studying for a science degree at Chandigarh College and is the youngest student ever accepted by an Indian University.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Born in 1990, Gregory Smith could read at age two and had enrolled in university at 10. But “genius” is only one half of the Greg Smith story. When not voraciously learning, this young man travels the globe as a peace and children’s rights activist.

He is the founder of International Youth Advocates, an organization that promotes principles of peace and understanding among young people throughout the world. He has met with Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev and spoke in front of the UN. For these and other humanitarian and advocacy efforts, Smith has been nominated four times for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Today I received another interesting email. I shall share with you, in 10 parts. You may have come across this before. In my opinion, people are not born equal in intelligence, despite many claim it to be. If we are all as intelligent, then all of us will be the same. No one will be smarter or more stupid than us. Most of us are just average normal humans.

This is part 1:

[Kim Ung-Yong: Attended University at age 4, Ph.D at age 15; has the world’s highest IQ!

This Korean super-genius was born in 1962 and might just be the smartest guy alive today (he’s recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as having the highest IQ of anyone on the planet).

By the age of four he was already able to read in Japanese, Korean, German, and English. At his fifth birthday, he solved complicated differential and integral calculus problems. Later, on Japanese television, he demonstrated his proficiency in Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, German, English, Japanese, and Korean. Kim was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records under “Highest IQ”; the book estimated the boy’s score at over 210.

Kim was a guest student of physics at Hanyang University from the age of 3 until he was 6. At the age of 7 he was invited to America by NASA. He finished his university studies, eventually getting a Ph.D. in physics at Colorado State University before he was 15. In 1974, during his university studies, he began his research work at NASA and continued this work until his return to Korea in 1978 where he decided to switch from physics to civil engineering and eventually received a doctorate in that field.

Kim was offered the chance to study at the most prestigious universities in Korea, but instead chose to attend a provincial university. As of 2007 he also serves as adjunct faculty at Chungbuk National University.]

Well don't ask me what is "adjunct faculty". I am not smart enough to know what it is. I suppose if he tries anything he will be on top.